The White House held this year’s “People’s Seder” in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, featuring MAZON’s Passover materials throughout the virtual program. Policymakers and Jewish community leaders reflected upon themes of liberation and justice, confronting the staggering injustice that more than 10 percent of Americans face food insecurity.
Speakers included MAZON’s President & CEO Abby J. Leibman, high-level leaders from the Biden Administration, and leaders from the Jewish community. The program featured a slideshow of images from MAZON’s new virtual Hunger Museum, which illuminates the social and political story of hunger in America — how our nation almost ended hunger, and how we can work together to do it again.
Leibman shared MAZON’s “Fifth Question,” a special Passover Seder tradition that the national anti-hunger organization produces each year to orient and frame discussions about hunger. Added to the traditional Four Questions, this year MAZON’s Fifth Question asks: “What lessons from our history should guide our nation’s approach to ending hunger?”
“We know from our history — when the government listened to those who struggled and invested in vital food assistance programs so that only 3 percent of Americans struggled with hunger — that we can create a brighter future,” says Leibman. “We know that when we protect and strengthen programs that allow individuals and their families to have the food they need to thrive, a life of abundance for everyone is possible.”
On March 28th, MAZON held its National Hunger Seder in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Members of Congress, government officials, and community partners joined Leibman and MAZON Board Chair Rabbi Joel Pitkowsky to recommit to their shared mission of ending hunger.
“As people of faith are preparing for various holiday celebrations this time of year, it’s important not to lose sight of what a holiday like Passover is all about,” said Rabbi Pitkowsky. “Events like MAZON’s National Hunger Seder and the upcoming White House People’s Seder allow us the time and space to reflect upon stories of resilience, persistence, liberation, and justice.”